SELF-EDITING
Friday, Mar. 27, 2020
Have you come to appreciate that a lot of people have a hearing problem?
Me too.
The test, of course, is to say something stupid to see if anyone notices. They notice, they call you on it, and often won’t let you forget it.
That’s OK. If what we said was stupid, there should be a price for stupid.
We can all self-edit.
We writers call it polishing.
“I’m tightening it up,” – a decision process, selecting what not to say as much as that I am saying what I am saying … if you can follow that.
But when we talk, in conversations, in email exchanges – we have this same thing going on, don’t we?
We decide what to say, how to say it, when to say it, and too often we fail to self-edit, fail to take out what should never be said at all.
We can delete or modify anything we write, but not what we said.
What we say isn’t always recorded, but is most certainly heard. I know we often feel that people aren’t listening, not paying attention to what we say; just remember that thought the next time you say something foolish … that will be the moment you are heard, well heard, and you cannot un-say any of it. I’ve had that kind of shoe taste in my mouth too many times to doubt that ears are peculiar, and hearing always improves when you say something stupid.
We can all self-edit more.
So much more.
p.s. - I know, I know, if you try to pass a law about saying stupid things, politicians would make themselves exempt
Reader feedback:
I did not read the previous three days of Musings while on the road. I needed a break from COVID thinking. Good piece today, though, now that I’m in a more receptive frame of mind, RH, Calgary, AB / now back /from Bradenton, FL
Hi Mark, I belong to a local book club. We have not been able to meet and our favourite meeting place is closed. One member proposed that we each write a short piece about our experience with our time during the corona virus. Of course one was about toilet paper. That is how we entertain ourselves and keep our connections, CG, Cobourg, ON
Good one today (not that they aren't usually - just some are better than others). Stay Healthy, SC, Chestermere, AB
Hey M2, K2 here, good article today! We’re focusing on keeping tenants in our little office building beltline & still hope we all get through this & see what other side is like! Be careful out there & ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, KK, Calgary, AB
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